Day 88: Tacoma to Everett, 77 miles
Day 89: Everett to Anacortes, 70 miles
Day 90: Anacortes to Marblemount, 66 miles
Day 91: Marblemount to Mazama, 77 miles
I left Joe's at 10:30 a.m. on another beautiful day in Tacoma and it felt really good to be back on the road again. The morning ride took me out of Tacoma and up through Seattle, at times on some fairly busy roads and at other times on the Interurban Trail that spanned all of the way from Tacoma up passed Seattle to the North.
I rode through two really cool towns - Fremont and Phinney Ridge that were just north of Seattle after crossing the bridge over Lake Union and had a really nice days ride. Perfect temperatures, little wind, no rain and mostly flat to rolling hills terrain.
I had already arranged with a warmshowers host, Neal, that we would meet in Lynnwood and then ride the last 11 miles to his house in Everett while I was sitting idle in Tacoma and it worked out quite well having an escort to take me in those last miles.
I got to hear lots of bike travels stories from Neal and his wife Janice and meet the rest of their family. Besides that I got to join the family for a delicious meal prepared by Janice complete with salad, pasta, garlic bread and the tastiest homemade jalapeño poppers I've ever had.
Day 89: 6/09/14
I woke up Monday morning and Janice had made biscuits and gravy for breakfast which I naturally washed down with some coffee and then Neal and I rode out the 5 miles from their house down to the doc so that I could take the ferry ride over to Whidbey Island.
After saying my goodbyes to Neal I was able to get the 9:00 a.m. Ferry over to Whidbey and was back on my bike riding by 9:30 a.m. The island was very scenic and at the suggestion of Neal I stopped at Fort Casey State Park, once an important stronghold for the Americans in WWII and saw the old barracks and the fort and a really cool lighthouse.
After eating lunch and walking around the fort I rode the rest of the day through some decent ups and downs and across a really amazing bridge over Deception Pass, another area with a lot of cool history. Once across I got up the island and into the city of Anacortes. My Northern-most Corner and the jump off point for my trek back east.
I stayed with Beth and her husband JB in the guest cottage in their beautiful home that overlooked the Guemes Channel. As with the night before with Neal and Janice Beth and JB invited me into their home and I got to enjoy another nice home cooked meal and share travel stories before calling it a night.
Day 90: 6/10/14
3 months into the trip and turning back east, but the weather was not very cooperative! I left Anacortes at 8:00 a.m. just as the rain started and I got downpoured on for the rest of the day all of the way to Marblemount. Most of the days ride is a blur of rain and wind and just trying to keep warm and as dry as I could under my rain jacket and gear.
I rode into Marblemount, The Gateway to the American Alps, and only then at about 3:00 p.m. did the rain stop.
Lucky for me, I again had a Warmshowers host and i made my way off of SR-20, the road I'd been on all day, onto a dirt path and then onto another and back into the woods to Rob and JS's 2-story cabin that was surrounded by gardens and right off of the Skagit River. This place was a sight to see and Rob and JS made the night even better. Both Rob and JS had each done cross-country bike rides before and we all talked of our adventures over beers and pesto pasta with cilantro and sausage and grilled zucchini. These guys had really figured out a way to incorporate their work into the lifestyle that they wanted to live and it made me so envious that they were doing it so well. But, they gave me some great advice throughout the night and gave me confidence that I will be able to do the same as I transition back into the real world after this adventure.
After dinner we all called it a night and I got the pleasure of sleeping in their teardrop trailer which ended up being really comfortable. I want one of these bad boys some day! (There's a pic below)
Day 91: 6/11/13
After a good nights sleep in the teardrop trailer I woke rested and ready to tackle the days climb! But, not before Rob made the most incredible German Pancakes smothered with green apples and a brown sugary sauce. This thing was a beast of a meal and I devoured the thing with a cup of coffee before taking off.
It was a beautiful morning and Rob and I knocked out the first 14 miles to Newhalem, a town controlled by Seattle City Light that supplies much of the power to Seattle with the dams on the Skagit, and then the climbing started and it was definitely nice having Rob there with me for that first bit of climbing to take my mind off of the grueling ride. At the 30 mile mark from Marblemount Rob turned around to ride back home and I continued on up and up and up.
Marblemount sits at an elevation of 315 ft. and between there and Newhalem there was very little change. Then from Marblemount I spent the next 36 miles climbing up to Rainy Pass (4,855 ft.) Then I dropped for a mile down to about 4,500 ft. and then right back up 4 more miles to Washington Pass (5,477 ft.)
From Washington Pass I finally got some relief and the last miles were all down hill to Mazama which sits somewhere in the lower 2,000's.
Today's ride was definitely some of the harder riding I've done on the trip so far and I've still got 3 more days of it... But, I also got some of the most amazing views I've had so far as well so there is always that give and take of big climbs.
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